Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Imaging The Anisotropic Nonlinear Meissner Effect In Nodal Yba ₂Cu₃O7-Δ Thin-Film Superconductors, Alexander P. Zhuravel, Behnood G. Ghamsari, Cihan Kurter, Philipp Jung, Stephen K. Remillard, John A. Abrahams, Alexander V. Lukashenko, Alexey V. Ustinov, Steven Mark Anlage

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

We have directly imaged the anisotropic nonlinear Meissner effect in an unconventional superconductor through the nonlinear electrodynamic response of both (bulk) gap nodes and (surface) Andreev bound states. A superconducting thin film is patterned into a compact self-resonant spiral structure, excited near resonance in the radio-frequency range, and scanned with a focused laser beam perturbation. At low temperatures, direction-dependent nonlinearities in the reactive and resistive properties of the resonator create photoresponse that maps out the directions of nodes, or of bound states associated with these nodes, on the Fermi surface of the superconductor. The method is demonstrated on the nodal …